Stir-fried Fish with Black Bean Sauce

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Stir-fried fish
There is a few ways of cooking fish healthy; steaming, grilling, poaching, baking and stir-frying without oil. My favorite among them is stir-frying, cooking at a high heat for a very short time. I like that sizzling sound when I’m cooking. Quick and easy!

Tips for stir-frying

  • Cut up my protein and vegetables into similar size and arrange them on the side, ready to go.
  • Pre-heat the non-stick wok or deep skillet at medium to high.
  • Cook onion, garlic, ginger first. You can add oil at this point. I tend to use a bit of water or a drizzle of coconut oil for cooking.
  • Cook your protein to about 50% and take it out. Don’t crowd the pan!
  • Put it back in when vegetables are cooked so that the protein is not overcooked.
  • Cook harder vegetables first since they take longer to cook.
  • Keep moving them making sure they don’t stick to the pan and cook evenly.
  • Put any kinds of sauce towards the end.

I cut up fish fillet into a bite size same as vegetables (I used cabbage and eggplant today). Stir-fry fish and veggies as above. Then I added black bean sauce at the end to coat all ingredients. The sauce consists of black bean paste, a teaspoon of cooking wine, a teaspoon of soy sauce, a teaspoon of minced garlic, a teaspoon of brown sugar and a teaspoon of sesame oil. Mix all these ingredients in a small bowl and then add into the wok. When it’s done, top with sesame seeds and coriander leaves. Serve with rice. I find using water instead oil while stir-frying makes this cooking method healthy. You can always add a bit of sesame oil at the end to taste and for healthy fat. Enjoy x

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes

GF Plum Tea Cake

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Plum cake2I went down to the shops to prepare for Valentine’s dinner tomorrow and a dinner party on Saturday night. Menu and shopping list just kept on changing all this week since I am very indecisive >.< I got all ingredients now so no more changes! It’s plum season now. I just couldn’t walk pass these little juicy purplish plums at the market today although they were not on my shopping list. It was quite sour and tart to eat by itself so I decided to bake some plum cakes this morning. This gluten-free and sugar-free tea cake is a little dense and not sweet at all. So change the recipe for your taste, but I quite liked a chocolatey chewy bottom and soft and juicy plums on top. Morning snack sorted 🙂

Ingredients
buckwheat flour 75g
coconut flour 25g
cacao powder 25g
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 heap table spoon of pomegranate molasses
3 eggs
2 plums

Lightly beat 3 eggs and add pomegranate molasses in a bowl. Add all dry ingredients and mix all up. Spread in the loaf tin and arrange slices of plums on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until cooked.
Plum cake

 

Posted in: Baking, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack

Making Kimchi At Home

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Digestive health is so important. When problems occur with your digestive system, it is not just your gut health involved. It may lead to many diseases including cancers, mental health disorders, chronic pain conditions, skin disorders and even Alzheimer’s disease. Poor digestion can affect your energy levels and general mood as well. Poor digestion can be affected by…

  • Inadequate chewing: chewing is the first step in the digestive process. Chew your food thoroughly!
  • Excessive stress: stress can affect the transit time of food through the digestive tract and the necessary enzymes to break down the food. Relax while you eat!
  • Eating the wrong foods: artificial colours, additives, sweeteners, flavours, etc. We are not designed to eat these nasty chemicals. Have fresh whole foods if you can!
  • Inadequate amount of good bacteria in your gut: our digestive system have over 400 different bacteria, both good and bad. A healthy balance of these bacteria is essential for digestive health. Eat good quality, natural foods, plenty of high-fibre foods, prebiotic and probiotic.
  • Gut inflammation: a nutrient-spare, artificially-based diet will inflame your gut and negatively affect digestion. You must eat a “real” foods.Kimchi
    I’ve written on my blog before how amazing fermented foods are for your overall health. Probiotics (good bacteria) in those foods improve your digestion, boost immune system, produce antioxidants, reduce cholesterol, stabilise blood sugar levels, etc. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to include fermented foods in your diet. Any forms should be fine. Yogurt, kefir, Kimchi, miso, sourdough bread, even wine 🙂 Making Kimchi at home is not as hard as it looks. It is cheaper to make your own than buy from the shops. You can also control the sodium level. So this is how I make!

Ingredients
half of small head of cabbage
half cup of Himalayan salt
1 heap table-spoon of chilli paste (I use Korean brand)
1 table-spoon of chilli flakes
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of ginger finely chopped
1 table-spoon of fish sauce
1 table-spoon of rice flour
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1 cup of chopped onions and carrots

 Chop the cabbage and mix well with salt in a big bowl. Let it sit for an hour until the cabbage gets wilted down. In the mean time, make a Kimchi paste. Mix all other ingredients in a different bowl. Once the cabbage is wilted, rinse and drain well in cold runny water to remove excess salt. Transfer the cabbage to the bowl with a Kimchi paste. You might want to wear disposable gloves and apron here cause it can get quite messy. Massage the cabbage really well and make sure it’s all covered with the paste. Transfer the Kimchi to a steralised jar. Pack tightly so that the Kimchi is submerged in the liquid. Leave it in room temperature for a day to allow fermentation process and then keep in the fridge.

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, My recipes, Vegetarian